Bedbug problems on the Camino Norte?

[Gabs]

Hi
I'm super excited as I am starting out on the Camino next Saturday..from Santillana del Mar. I am busy browsing guides and blogs for any advice and think I get the idea... Trying to pack light, try and get myself as fit as possible ( not easy practice hiking in hot and sunny Andalucia at the moment, where I live ), BUT!!! the one thing that concerns me is the matter of bedbugs.. How much of a problem are they? Any experience of people recently on that route.. ? Advice?
Also, not booked any accommodation apart from my first night in Santillana... as really have no idea how far my legs carry me each day.. I travel on my own so am flexible on where and when I stop.. I know it's still August/ high season but hope it will be just fine....???
Can't wait!!!

 

[Anne DR]

I started a conversation about all the bites I got. Some of my bites are blistering. Does anyone know what might be causing them and the treatment. I seem to be a bug magnet. My husband in the same room is getting nothing.

 

[C clearly]

Some of my bites are blistering. Does anyone know what might be causing them and the treatment. I seem to be a bug magnet. My husband in the same room is getting nothing.

The blistering is called a "bullous" reaction, and for me that is a convincing sign that it's a bedbug, even if I have only 2 or 3 bites. Go to a pharmacy for antihistamine (ointment and/or orally). Your husband probably just doesn't react. Consider yourselves both exposed, and treat your things accordingly.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

I started a conversation about all the bites I got. Some of my bites are blistering. Does anyone know what might be causing them and the treatment. I seem to be a bug magnet. My husband in the same room is getting nothing.

A medical center may also put you on some type of cortisone.

 

[Kanga]

@Anne DR your dear husband might be Typhoid Mary. He does not show anything but might be carrying the bugs that are causing problems for you. I agree with @C clearly - find a commercial laundromat and put all your stuff and his stuff (dry) through a cycle in the dryer. Heat kills bedbugs.

 

[caminka]

one albergue that I remember from last year with alarming bedbug problems was the municipal in Comillas (I woke up to them peering down at me from the poncho I was covered with - after I ditched the blanket - then later in the kithen disposed of of about 30, I think). you might want to read some reviews first before stopping there.
when I talked later to other pilgrims who slept there, the hospitaleros sadly didn't seem to care much.

 

[norelle]

When I walked the Norte last year there were bedbugs in the muni in Comillas and many pilgrims were affected.

I later met a pilgrim who had walked the Norte 3 times and he said each time the Comillas albergue had bedbugs!

buen camino!

 

[dougfitz]

This is still a useful read: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/please-read-this-about-bed-bugs.21195/

 

[peregrina2000]

Sadly, Comillas appears to be one place where "naming and shaming" is warranted. Any albergue can get bed bugs, since any pilgrim can bring them in. That's why many forum members get upset when people call out an albergue by name. But when an albergue repeatedly refuses to take action, then I think the naming is warranted.

I stayed in Comillas about three days after it opened years ago, so I didn't have a problem. But since then there have been repeated reports and apparently no action. That's too bad because the albergue itself is very atmospheric, in an old jail!

 

[dougfitz]

Sadly, Comillas appears to be one place where "naming and shaming" is warranted.

My objection is that there is usually more naming than shaming. It is generally never clear that the albergue management has been informed, and have not been given the opportunity to address the problems. As it stands so far, the claims being made about this albergue are dated, with no suggestions that the problem persists today.

What is the message to members? Comillas is a seaside town with relatively expensive alternatives to this albergue. Avoiding it would be difficult for many. So is the message to check carefully? I would say that about every albergue - after all, they are all at risk from yesterdays pilgrims, or those that stayed three weeks ago.

Sorry @peregrina2000, but I think Ivar's message is just as valid for Comillas as it is for any other place.

 

[peregrina2000]

My objection is that there is usually more naming than shaming. It is generally never clear that the albergue management has been informed, and have not been given the opportunity to address the problems. As it stands so far, the claims being made about this albergue are dated, with no suggestions that the problem persists today.

What is the message to members? Comillas is a seaside town with relatively expensive alternatives to this albergue. Avoiding it would be difficult for many. So is the message to check carefully? I would say that about every albergue - after all, they are all at risk from yesterdays pilgrims, or those that stayed three weeks ago.

Sorry @peregrina2000, but I think Ivar's message is just as valid for Comillas as it is for any other place.

Well, I don't expect this to be good enough for you, but for the record Alex (formerly of Bodenaya, now in an albergue a few kms west of Santillana) has been there personally on two occasions because of pilgrim reports and talked to the people in charge. I talked to the woman in turismo about it when I walked through to San Vicente in June. She was quite aware that it is a perennial problem there, but says all she can do is discretelly steer people away when they come to ask about it. "A los del albergue no les importa" is what she said to me.

For those who can't afford the non-pilgrim options, there are ways to avoid Comillas by either staying in Cobreces before or San Vicente afterwards.

 

[norelle]

@dougfitz
This did not appear to be a one off problem and every pilgrim concerned was met with indifference from the hospitalero.
Having walked 4 caminos and being a forum member for many years, I would not have posted this information if I felt it was within the parameters of a camino bedbug experience.
Along the Norte last year there were other occasions of close encounters with bedbugs but I am not going to name them here as they were dealt with by the hospitaleros and the pilgrims supported with the treatment of their gear.

 

[notion900]

Have a look on Gronze - looks like the problem goes back years.
"Las noté subiendo por mi cuerpo" Yikes!

 

[dougfitz]

Have a look on Gronze - looks like the problem goes back years.
"Las noté subiendo por mi cuerpo" Yikes!

I already had, but I have checked again. There were NO comments about bed bugs before 2016, and no reports of them this year. Hardly evidence that 'the problem goes back years'. Further, all the problems were reported in just one month - Sep 2016. That would be about the length of a single breeding cycle. I could draw the conclusion that something has actually been done to address the problem. That might be a bit speculative, but probably no more than some of the other speculation that goes on from time to time.

 

[notion900]

The ones climbing up the body of poor Sandra were in summer 2015. She seemed to take it well.

 

[dougfitz]

The ones climbing up the body of poor Sandra were in summer 2015. She seemed to take it well.

True, but that doesn't make it look anything like 'the problem goes back years' - which was your wildly exaggerated claim

 

[notion900]

I'd like to walk with Sandra. She sounds so cool. She wishes the albergue well with all her heart, despite the invading insects. Seems like nothing phases her. What a girl!

And look! A new review yesterday, that does not mention bugs! Clear signs of progress.

 

[Addicted]

Starting the Norte on September 6 or 7 depending on bus schedule. Will keep an eye on this thread and thanks to all for your knowledge

 

[Dandabika]

I saw bed bug traces (tiny blood stains on the rubber sheets covering the mattress that appear like dots like this . . . . ) in an albergue run by monks at a monastery; I can't remember where along the Del Norte. They did not bite me.

 

[Former member 56625]

Hi I walked the Norte from Irun in May/June this year staying in municipals when there was room with out any problems. Stayed in the municipal in Comillas which I really liked and had no problems with bedbugs and did not hear of any. I had my sleep sack and pack treated with bug spray. You'll love the Norte it's so beautiful but don't be afraid to ask for local advise on the the coastal tracks and get off the Camino at times. Buen camino.

 

[caminka]

Hi I walked the Norte from Irun in May/June this year staying in municipals when there was room with out any problems. Stayed in the municipal in Comillas which I really liked and had no problems with bedbugs and did not hear of any. I had my sleep sack and pack treated with bug spray. You'll love the Norte it's so beautiful but don't be afraid to ask for local advise on the the coastal tracks and get off the Camino at times. Buen camino.

that is very good to hear! I really liked the building itself and the view from it.

I did leave a message to hospitalera before I and another peregrina escaped in the wee hours of the morning. and I saw another paper with a message tucked below all leaflets and magasins on the hospitalera's counter. one peregrina commented that she found it strange that the hospitalera went outside several times and sprayed herself with a big can of antibug spray.
I was there in september last year. if so many criters can spawn from only one reproductive cycle, this is a very scary thought.

hopefully the problem has been successfully delt with and hopefully no new bedbugs will arrive with new pilgrims.